The BBC will teach school kids how to spot fake news
From March, the BBC will begin sending reporters to schools and events.
Social networks and search engines are trying all manner of tactics to help users identify fake news, from flagging trusted publishers to relying on readers to spot misinformation. A new initiative from the BBC, however, wants to teach kids how to spot fake news for themselves, instead of relying on the front pages of the internet to do it for them. From March next year, the BBC will begin sending reporters to secondary schools and events, as well as release digital resources, to encourage teenagers to think critically about what they read online.
Up to 1,000 schools could benefit from talks on the topic and classroom activities, including a game developed by animation studio Aardman (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and that will put pupils on the floor of a newsroom. Speaking at an event yesterday, Director-General of the BBC Tony Hall said: "We at the BBC have a real responsibility here."
"By sharing our journalistic expertise, we want to give young people the skills and awareness they need to be confident about identifying the real news stories, and calling out the fakes."
